1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computers, and more particularly to a method, system, and computer program product for optimizing storage migration and recall operations in a computing storage environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
The majority of businesses in the world today use computers and computer operating systems to store and manage information. Typically, such information is stored and managed in interconnected storage systems. Such systems may be complex, involving many interconnected storage devices, communication paths, and the like to store a vast amount of data in many forms. To help accommodate such data storage, space management products may migrate data from/to various storage mediums, such as from direct access storage devices (DASD) to tap devices or other storage devices (e.g., other DASD devices) when certain storage criteria are met. In one conventional application, an exemplary criterion is a number of days since the data was last accessed.
As applications and users attempt to access data subject to these migration operations, the data must be recalled. Because the data often changes form between storage devices, this can take several minutes of time depending on the level of activity and volume of data to be recalled. In addition, some users may only use certain data sets at specific times of the month or every time they sign onto the system.